Planning Commission Oct. 16 agreed to let a beauty salon and residence continue in what was originally a church building at 2230 W. Pikes Peak Ave.
Hale and Sarah Kendall needed either to change the zone from residential to commercial or obtain a variance to allow their live/work uses. A neighborhood meeting
last spring had made it clear that the neighbors preferred a variance because a change to a commercial zone would have made the location into a permanent business
site.
The uses allowed in the approval are limited to a beauty salon, barber shop, manicure, pedicure, massage, seamstress, tailor, shoe repair or photography studio. The
non-salon uses “were added as a possibility in the future because they were similar uses that would not greatly impact the surrounding area to any further extent than
the salon use does,” explains Heather Rose of City Planning in her report to the Planning Commission.
The Kendalls also had needed a parking variance. Eleven spaces were required under city code. However, only eight could be safely provided on the property, Rose
told the commission, which she thinks should be adequate, especially with available on-street parking, if there ever is an overflow.
In recommending approval, she said she believed the property's uses have “minimal impact on the surrounding area.”
The Kendalls had bought the property over a year ago, believing it had the right zoning because a dance studio had operated there before. But it turned out the studio
had been an illegal use.
The salon, Perfect Angels, has been allowed to stay in operation on the site while the issue worked its way through city staff review processes.
One neighbor, Thos Lesser, spoke against the plan at Planning Commission, suggesting that the Kendalls would move on and the neighborhood would then be stuck
with a building OK'd for several commercial uses. But Hale Kendall objected, saying he had invested his life savings into the property.